The latest victim of Coronavirus in the art world was the Art Dubai event, which was indefinitely postponed at the face of the threat.
On March 3, the organizers at Art Dubai announced that the upcoming art event would be postponed indefinitely for the time being. The event was originally scheduled to occur from March 25-28 and attract crowd from Europe and the Middle East. The officials at Art Dubai have said that instead of the grand event, a smaller exhibition would be organized for the local crowd on the set dates. Other features like workshops and talks would also be held within it.
The announcement was followed by the decision of UAE Ministry of Education to close all schools in the country for their spring break, starting from March 8. So far, 28 cases of coronavirus have been detected in the UAE. Crowded events, particularly involving a global audience, could become prime spots for the virus to spread. Currently, it is unclear if other art galleries within the UAE and in the nearby regions of the Middle East have any plans to close down exhibitions.
The announcement of Art Dubai was just one among many art exhibitions that have cancelled/postponed at the face of the global Coronavirus outbreak. These include Art Basel event in Hong Kong, a watch expo in Switzerland and another event in Milan. However, some exhibitions are slated to continue as usual, like the Armory Show and SP-Arte in São Paulo. The European Fine Art Fair is also set to continue as per schedule, though three exhibitors have already pulled out of it.
